2011 Volvo S60

It looks up-to-date, but will it drive that way?

Official images have been released of the all-new 2011 Volvo S60, and they reveal that it will stay true to the concept version first seen at last January’s Detroit auto show. The S60 occupies the middle ground in Volvo’s sedan lineup, and this next version will evolve further in design than did the current S80, which looks almost identical to its predecessor.

The new S60 will get a sculpted front end with aggressively shaped blackout areas on the lower fascia and a larger grille than the one on the previous car, which was handsome but had become quite dated. Feline headlamps take the place of square ones. The look is very similar to that of the attractive—and fine-driving—XC60 crossover.

The car’s shoulders are defined by a curvy, flowing line that carries over from the concept; it replaces the simple arc of the previous car and brings modernity to the overall look. Expect the design cue to migrate across the entire lineup. The harshly defined trunk of the last S60 is gone, and a slimmer C-pillar leads into a softer rear end.

The S60 concept featured a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a dual-clutch automated manual transmission; the pair should be in production shortly, but it’s unknown if the small four would make it to this side of the Atlantic in the S60. The production car will, however, get the concept’s pedestrian-detection technology, which will fully apply the brakes if it detects you’re going to make a Swedish meatball out of someone in the crosswalk. Other features of the S60 concept that are candidates to make it to the real car are a second-gen radar cruise-control system, lightweight composite body panels, and a grille shutter than can close to reduce aero drag.

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Volvo is promising “dynamic driving properties,” and we hope it delivers. The old S60 was decent to drive, but it came up short in a class filled with more involving and better handling machines. The 2011 S60 will debut at the Geneva auto show next March and begin production at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium, in early summer. Look for the car to hit dealers sometime around next August.